On Thursday, 12th March, 2015 in

the Garden Atrium of the Pavilion

on Northbourne Hotel, a Welcome

Reception was held to herald the

commencement of the 2015 Girbau

Asia Pacific Convention.

Each year Girbau holds their

annual dealer conference in a

country where they are represented.

This year, David Gillman and his

fine team at Girbau Australia put

together a great event, including

Girbau shirts to wear to the

Saturday business sessions, and

fabulous entertainment by

Aboriginal artists on Friday night, a

real treat for the visiting dealers and

guests from countries as wide

ranging as Spain, India, Malaysia,

Hong Kong/China/Mongolia, Korea,

Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and

New Zealand. (Who, come to think

of it, managed to make their own

entertainment.)

26 THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL DRYCLEANER & LAUNDERER MARCH APRIL 2015

2015 Asian PacificConvention, Canberra

Taken at the Pavilion On Northbourne, Canberra, the traditional Group Photograph had a delightful if unexpected outcome when itwas realised the grouping of looked vaguely like a map of Australia. All credit to Aaron Busch, a very talented photographer.

From kookaburra calls to didgeridoo songs, Russell kept us entertained while Connie sold music sticks, boomerangs, didgeridoos, and the like, many of which were made by the students of

aboriginal studies. I love my didgeridoo … not sure the neighbours are as keen.

THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL DRYCLEANER & LAUNDERER MARCH APRIL 2015 27

WELCOME

Friday was full on business sessionsas speakers shared experiences andplans, and how things are done intheir country.

Guests were welcomed by MrSanti Carol, Export Vice-presidentof Girbau Spain, along with Mr.David Gillman, GAU Director, andMr. Enric Saavedra, Area SalesManager for Asia Pacific.

A Company update was providedby Ms Mercè Girbau, President ofGirbau Group, with Mr Toni Rubiés,Sales Marketing and Services VicePresident Girbau Group expoundingon commercial strategy for thecoming years. The company videowas professional and enjoyable.

I particularly enjoyed the CaseStudies and I am only sorry I amsworn to secrecy on the content ofthe conference. It was veryinteresting to hear from peoplefrom other countries explain howthey deal with challenges completelyforeign to those we experience inAustralia and New Zealand.

• VENDED – Mr Alan Eu, Sut Lick(Malaysia) SDN BHD, Malaysia

• CRUISES – Ms O My Phuong,Vuong Luc Trading Service Co.Ltd., Vietnam

• FIRE DEPARTMENTS – Mr KoInayoshi, SST Corporation, Japan

• WET CLEANING/ED – MrSomchai Poolsiri, Laundry Tech& Consultant Co. Ltd., Thailand

• INDUSTRIAL DIVISION – MrMatthew Clark, Girbau Australia

• MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS –Mr Akash Dharamsey, ADDLaundry Concepts Private Ltd.,India

• HOTEL BUSINESS – Mr SammyTung, Girbau China

• KILO LAUNDRIES – Mr PingMahadi, PT Rapi KharismaAdipratama, Indonesia

To wrap things up, Mr JoanCanadell, Service Director forGirbau, spoke of Service Evolutionand the Future.

Mr Toni Dominguez, SalesEngineering Manager addressed theconference on Girbau completesolution: laundry project

Ms Mercè Girbau, President of Girbau Group

Ms O My Phuong, Vuong LucTrading Service Co. Ltd., Vietnam

Mr Poolsiri Somchai, Laundry TechConsultants, Thailand

Mr Ch. Batmanlai, Director, IS LLC, Mongolia

Mr Akash Dharamsey, ADD LaundryConcepts Private Ltd., India

Steven ThamSut Lik Group, Malaysia

Mr Ko Inayoshi, SST Corporation, Japan

28 THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL DRYCLEANER & LAUNDERER MARCH APRIL 2015

development. Mr Sergi Fuentes,Sales Engineer, discussed in detailthe planning which went intoCapital Linen, Mitchell, NSW.

Convention farewell

Ms Mercè Girbau, President GirbauGroup, thanked everyone for theirattendance and contributions to thediscussion during the day.

Prior to the Convention Dinner atthe Four Seasons Room, Connie andRussell, two Aboriginal artists andteachers, entertained with bird songand didgeridoo playing, with manydelegates taking this rareopportunity to join in. Artworkswere on sale, and several of us tookthe opportunity to buy.

Dealers and Guests 13 Spain52 Australia/New Zealand2 Korea 1 Japan3 Indonesia1 India2 Thailand3 Malaysia16 Hong Kong/China/Mongolia

Saturday, 14th March 2015Local delegates visited CapitalLaundry for a plant tour, while inter-national delegates were taken on abus tour of Canberra and the envi-rons. The weather was lovely, and Itrust they enjoyed themselves.Following this they arrived atCapitol Laundry for their own tourof the new facilities.

Plant Tour at CapitolWhen the Capitol Hotel Group con-sisted of three hotels operating atotal of 640 rooms, at almost 100%

capacity (The Clifton Suites, TheAria, and The Pavilion onNorthbourne) and with a fourthHotel coming online, it approachedGirbau for a solution to providequality linens to all of their guests,while seeking a cost effective, effi-cient way of achieving their linenrequirements and improving work-ing conditions for their staff. Withthe laundry operating 16 hours aday, 7 days a week, something had togive.

Mr. Jason Krizaic, owner of thehotel, journeyed to Thailand withMr David Gillman, General Managerof Girbau Australia, to see firsthanda recent installation of a tunnelwasher. He was impressed and thenew laundry is the result.

With a Girbau TBS50 Ecotunnelbatch washer (8 modules) pairedwith a SPR-50 press, the fourST1300 dryers (63 kg capacity)make short work of the linen.

A DRF feeder has improved lifefor operators, being ergonomicallysound, even with production of upto 1200 items per hour goingthrough the PC120 gas flatworkironer. A FL-King high qualityfolder ensures presentation to thehotels is top notch. And for towels aFT-Maxi makes light work of up to1200 towels per hour.

We were privileged to lookaround Capitol Linen on Saturdaymorning. Paticularly since theowners only opened the laundryespecially to show delegatesthrough. Normally they operate afour day week, and everyone ishome in time for dinner. n

Adam Michalak of Dway Engineering with Matthew Clark, IndustrialDivision, Girbau Australia, at the new Capital Hotel Group laundry.

Ray and Trisha Hutchings,Rockhampton Steam Laundry,

Rockhampton.

Big news coming up in 2015.

Sammy Zheng and Michelle Brown from South Pacific Laundry.